Mining and construction machines, such as hydraulic mining shovels, excavators, wheel loaders, cable shovels, bucket wheels, and draglines commonly employ undercarriage track systems. The undercarriage track systems generally employ a track chain assembly formed by interconnected track pads. The track chain assembly is generally guided and supported by rollers. The contact between the track pads and the rollers may create high Hertzian stress, which can cause wear, such as spalling and abrasive wear, along surfaces of the track pads, particularly when the machine is inclined and the track pads are angled relative to the rollers. The track roller path of machines used in heavy-duty applications may be susceptible to wear and spall under relatively modest angles of articulation due to Hertzian stresses developed in mating surfaces of the track pads and rollers.
Attempts have been made to extend the wear life of the undercarriage track system through modification of the roller and/or track pad structures. U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,574 to Oertley, for example, discloses an arrangement wherein first and second track guiding rollers are connected to respective parallel roller frame assemblies with axes of rotation of each guide roller in a substantially non-perpendicular relationship to the longitudinally extending centerline, producing a “toe-out” or “toe-in” of the guide rollers.
The present disclosure is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems discovered by the inventors.